Never The Same Again EDITED VERISON
by CherryBlossomSavior
Summary: Haruno Sakura, the new girl at Konoha High School, is in for a rude awakening. Throw in enemies, friends, and unrequited love, saying KHS will be interesting is a complete understatement. Ahh young love, and the overwhelming drama that follows. SasuSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own Naruto or its characters. All characters rightfully belong to to Kishimoto-senpai.**

**Author's note: **Holy hell. It's been about _**6 years**_ since I originally wrote this story. I have taken into consideration ALL the reviews I have gotten on this story since it's original posting date, and I now present you all with a completely rewritten version of chapter 1! I want to begin by thanking all of the support I have receive on NTSA; this being the first real SasuSaku fanfiction I have ever written, seeing all this love truly means the world to me. So THANK YOU to you all and I really hope you enjoy the new and improved version of NTSA!

Ladies and Gentlemen, chapter 1.

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_Well, now or never._

That was the only thing that crossed through 16 year old Haruno Sakura's mind as she took her first steps into her new school, Konoha High School. The boisterous environment of teenagers hastily going from here to there and teachers going about their business, and occasionally distracted from disciplinary actions that needed to be taken due to some students, was a definite change from the serene simplicity of her former school, Suna Academy.

The hallways were bustling with people; some in a hurry to go to their classes or lockers, and some lingering around caring less about where they should be. Sakura's grip on her backpack tightened as she proceeded down the congested hallway, trying her hardest to find her first class—homeroom. In the midst of her wandering, she noticed the amount of looks and stares she was receiving. A couple people, mostly girls, giving her disgusted looks_—probably because of my hair…pink is a deceiving color_—and others giving her lustful looks as if she was that easy. Oh how wrong they were.

_This is definitely going to be interesting._Sakura couldn't control the slight smirk of amusement from gracing her lips as she continued to maneuver through the hallway, almost reaching her destination.

However, amongst the countless stares that were directed at her, one in particular ended up catching her attention. As she glanced over to the side, her gave fell upon a raven hair man leaning against some lockers. As if time graced her with a few moments, she took that allotted time to observe said teen. She duly noted his features: the unusual spikey black hair (_Hmm, at least I'm not the only one with abnormal hair after all_), the crispness of his school uniform (_Tch, unlike that obnoxiously loud blonde guy next to him_), the hard, distant look in his onyx eyes, and last but not least, that smirk that adorned his lips.

Her given moments seemed to have been up as the onyx eyed male left his leaning position against the lockers and proceeded to move down the hall to what was assumed his classroom. Following him was a group of 6 teenagers, all of which continued conversation with each other as they entered the classroom.

* * *

Sakura made it to her classroom just seconds before the final bell rang. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as she looked around the classroom. A class of roughly 20 teenagers sat in small groups, conversing with one another; caring less about the fact that class had started, and caring even lesser about the pinkette's presence.

Sakura relaxed appreciatively at the lack of attention she was receiving and moved toward the teacher's desk. There she saw a silver haired man, possibly no older than 25, sitting at his desk, his mind solely set on the orange book in his hands.

"Uhh, excuse me?" Sakura spoke up, drawing the silver haired man's attention away from the book. It was then she noticed her bangs skillfully swept over his left eye and a dark blue mask over his mouth. She spoke over the loud noise of the classroom. "I'm Haruno Sakura, I just transferred from the Sand region."

The teacher looked up at the teenager in front of him, his eyes softening as he smiled—or so she assumed under his mask. "Ahh yes, Principal Tsunade mentioned there would be a transfer. Well welcome, Haruno. I'm Hatake Kakashi."

Sakura noted his sophisticated tone, which was countered by his relaxed façade and lack of control or care of his loud homeroom. She bowed slightly in respect and placed the transfer slip onto his desk in exchange for her class schedule.

Kakashi looked over the room in thought. "Hmm…" Suddenly, his hand came down hard on the desk, quickly gaining the attention of the students in the classroom, who routinely took their seats. "Finally," he mumbled annoyed under his mask. He continued to scan the room. "Let's see. Haruno, go take that seat in the back next to Uchiha."

Moans and groans of protest emerged from the several girls in the homeroom and Sakura hesitantly nodded and made her way to the back of the classroom. Trying her hardest to ignore the stares she was once again receiving, hoping they would soon return to the conversations they were having prior, she slowly sat down in the seat she was assigned. She looked over to the side slightly at her new seatmate, and to her surprise, it was the same raven haired guy she saw this morning.

He continued to gaze out the window, completely unmoved by the presence of his new seatmate. _The new girl huh? And she just had to be seated next to me. Great, now I have to deal with another one of those damn fangirls…_

Afraid to interrupt his train of thoughts, Sakura chose to remain quiet. It was then that the same obnoxious blonde she also saw earlier turned around in his seat in front of them and spoke loudly, "Geez teme, why do you get to sit next to the new girl!"

Sakura innerly winced at the loudness of the blonde as her seatmate moved his gaze from the window to glare at the person in front of him. He finally spoke in an annoyed tone, "Why must you always be so damn loud?"

Yells of protest and strings of curses left the blonde's mouth. Suddenly, the yells were silenced momentarily as the long, dark brown haired main next to him turned around and smack his seatmate over the head.

"The hell was that for, Neji?" the blonde exclaimed, holding his head in pain.

His seatmate's face remained stoic as he rolled his eyes, returning to the book back on his desk.

In the midst of the chaos, a girl rose from her desk next to Sakura's and walked over to the four. "Will you guys just shut up for once? I'm pretty sure you're scaring the new girl." A girl with brown hair pulled up into two buns on either side of her head spoke.

Sakura's eyes softened in gratitude at the control over the noise. The bun-haired girl turned her attention to Sakura and smiled brightly. "Haha sorry, just trying to do damage control over here." She glanced over at the blonde with a stern look as he cheekily smiled. "My name's TenTen! It's nice to meet you…"

"Sakura," the pinkette replied, returning the smile with a breath taking one of her own. "Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you!"

TenTen smiled and crouched down next to Sakura, folding her arms on the desk. "That loud mouth over there is Uzumaki Naruto, and the one that shut him up ever so gracefully," she shot Naruto's seatmate a sarcastic look, "is Hyuuga Neji."

"And this over here is our adoreable Sasuke-teme!" Naruto cheered, leaning over the desk and messing up said person's hair.

The raven promptly swatted away Naruto's hand, glaring daggers through his friend as Naruto just laughed.

His attention then adverted to the girl sitting next to him. She responded by meeting his gaze with her own; bright emerald green eyes boring into his onyx colored ones. "Hn." He spoke, assuming she probably already knew who he was since his name was renowned throughout all of the Leaf region, he chose to introduce himself anyways. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura smiled softly at the fact her seatmate finally decided to talk to her. "It's nice to meet you, Sasuke-san."

_She didn't even respond to my surname. Then again, she probably already knew ahead of time and is trying to be polite now. Hn. Regardless…this is a better reaction than screaming._

Sasuke's thoughts trailed off as his gaze reverted back to the window. The sound of the four people next to him conversing with Sakura and getting to know her slowly turned into murmurs as his mind drifted off.

* * *

After homeroom, Sakura soon discovered that she had her next class with Sasuke, Naruto, and TenTen. While Naruto continued to happily talk with the stoic Uchiha, Sakura proceeded to walk with TenTen.

Noticing they were a good distance away from the guys, Sakura quietly asked. "Ano, TenTen, can I ask you something?"

TenTen looked over at her new friend and nodded. "Sure, what's up?"

Sakura glanced back at Sasuke, who held an annoyed expression as Naruto continued to ramble on next to him. "Why did Sasuke-san look so annoyed when Kakashi-sensei sat me next to him?"

TenTen chuckled lightly. "Don't pay any mind to him. He's always like that, all rude and emotionless and shit. He's on this whole kick that all the girls he'll ever meet will become deranged fangirls. Well, can't say that's not true, but he seems to forget that not EVERYONE wants to be on his case, like me or the other two girls that hang around with our group."

Sakura glanced back once again at Sasuke, who immediately took note of the attention and looked back at her. She quickly looked away and back at TenTen, who reassured her, "Don't take it personally. He's not an open person, so this is usual, trust me. His assumptions are just very vague I guess."

"I just wish he wouldn't assume then…" Sakura said as the four made their way, walking into their next class, Chemistry. They all took their seats; Naruto next to Sasuke and TenTen next to Sakura.

This class seemed to run a bit smoother than their previous homeroom. A few minutes after the bell rang, a broad man with a freshly cut beard and a cigarette in his mouth walked into the classroom. Looks of disgust were exchanged at the stench of the cigarette smoke as the man ashed the remains, putting it out.

TenTen groaned, rubbing her temples. "I really wish Asuma-sensei would stop smoking. The smell just kills me."

Sakura fanned the smoke away as the man named Asuma, wrote down the assignment on the board. Then he instructed in a deep, hard voice, "Okay class, today we will be working on balanced equations and finding the percent error through actual and expected yields. You will be working in groups of 4," the students quickly looked eagerly at their friends either next to them or across the room, but were disappointed as Asuma continued, "which I will be assigning."

Due to how the seating arrangements were, with all four of the friends being separated across the classroom, they were miraculously placed into the same group. They moved to the back of the classroom, worksheets and binders in hand, as they took a seat at the back table.

* * *

Naruto argued with TenTen, begging her to help him with the work, or really do most of it.

As the two argued back on forth about the work load, Sakura turned to Sasuke, both of which already had more than half of the worksheet completed. Deciding to break the awkwardness of their silence between each other, Sakura said softly. "So, Sasuke-san, is this school always this…well…loud?"

Sasuke's eyes shifted from his paper to Sakura. Her attempts at conversation weren't the best, but he duly noted that she wasn't showing signs of leeching herself onto him anytime soon, so there wasn't harm in responding. "Hn. It is." Sakura slowly nodded, returning her attention back to her own worksheet. Sasuke's brows furrowed slightly, him not being the best at trying to keep up a conversation, but something within him egged him to continue. "Guessing by your discomfort, your old school was different?"

Sakura looked back up at him, her eyes shining lightly at his attempts to try and talk to her as she chuckled lightly. "Ha yeah, you can say that. Suna's a bit different than Konoha, I can tell you that."

This definitely caught Sasuke's attention. Wasn't every day that a Sand member decides to move to the Leaf. "Sand, huh. So what fancied you about Konoha that you decided to come here?"

Sakura's eyes softened slightly, obviously showing that a thought or memory just crossed her mind as she spoke, her voice a little bit more quiet and hesitant. "Well, I was born and raised in Konoha for some time, but then moved to the Sand after my father passed away… So I guess I just have to get used to it here again."

"Hn. I see."

Sakura sighed putting her head on her hand. "It's kind of unnerving actually. My father was very close to a company's family here. They even had a son that was my age I think. Before I got the chance to even get to know the family myself, my father passed and we were quickly moved to Sand."

"What happened?" Sasuke questioned, turning fully to face the Haruno.

Sakura scoffed, chuckling ironically at the bad memory. "My mother remarried some bastard and everything went horribly downhill for there. Soon enough, I'm dragged back in the very place I rather not be."

Glancing at the clock, she noticed class was almost over in a minute or so. She began to gather her stuff, Sasuke soon following her actions.

Her voice caught Sasuke's attention once again. "There were rumors floating around Suna that tragic things happened to that company. It's a shame though; I heard the owners of Sharingan Corp. were such nice people."

The bell suddenly rang as Sakura waved to her new friends and walked out the door. Little did she know, a shocked Sasuke remained in his place, his eyes focused on her figure that vanish through the doorway.

_No…that's not possible. That's_ _**her?**_

* * *

_**Originally posted**: 16 June 2008  
__**Edited:** 10 April 2012_

**Author's note**: And there you have it! The new and improved version of chapter 1! :D I gotta say, this definitely took a bit to edit, considering it took me a full 2 hours to rewrite! But after looking over it, I can't blame you guys for thinking it was so rushed. Then again, I was only 10 when I wrote this, so I'm pretty damn impressed with myself for the effort haha. Anyhoo, for those who read the original NTSA, I basically rewrote EVERYTHING in this chapter; the only things that stayed the same were probably the first two or three paragraphs. So that definitely shows that this story needs A LOT of improvement haha. Well, hope you guys liked the new version! (:

~Cherry-chan


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. All the characters rightfully belong to Kishimoto-senpai.**

**Author's note: **Well hello hello! (: You guys ready for another chapter of NTSA? Yes? WELL GOOD, BECAUSE LOATHE AND BEHOLD, HERE IT IS! (': However, I just want to let you guys know that this ishas** _nothing _**to do with the original version of chapter 2. I know, it's a bit complicated but I'll explain later. Oh, and I TRIED my damnedest to make Sasuke as not-OOC as possible, but it's such a difficult thing to do. Not saying he's all frilly and flamboyant (Sasuke- -.-) but it's still frustrating haha. Okay okay, I'm going to let you guys read now soooo MEET ME AT THE BOTTOM!

Ladies and Gentlemen, chapter 2.

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

The next few days were greater than Sakura has expected. She spent more time with her new group of friends, even meeting the other three "members" she failed to meet on her first day: Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Hinata (which she later found out was Neji's cousin), and Nara Shikamaru. The more time she spent with them, the more comfortable she was feeling.

The comfort subsided slightly as she noticed almost everyone in the group was paired off with each other. Hinata and Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru, even TenTen and Neji. So her friends' relationships gave Sakura all the more excuse to hang around Sasuke, who surprisingly seemed not bothered by her presence. He even, dare we say, began to form a liking for the pinkette; which of course, could hardly be seen by the naked eye. But still, it was there and it was gradually progressing.

Time took its toll on Sakura. Soon enough, almost a week had passed by as Sakura was welcomed in as if she'd been with them since there beginning. She joined in on the jokes and the classic "beating Naruto" antics; she even spent more time around Sasuke once the couples were off doing their own thing.

_Everything fell into place.  
_

* * *

"I'm home." Sakura announced, only to be replied by the quietness of the house. _As usual._ She sighed, closing the door and walked into the house. It was a simple building; one floor but very spacious. She made her way down the hall to her room; dropping her backpack down on the floor and plopping onto the bed, loosening her uniform tie.

Ever since her family's company went under and her father passed, her beautiful home was sold off and her and her mother moved to Suna to try and regain the life they once had.

_Easier said than done. _

Things got even more out of hand once her mother remarried that low-life idiot, Hitsawa Hirashi. Hirashi was an alcoholic with no sense of education or motivation, but a wealthy one at that. To give him the benefit of the doubt; he was a very different man when he first met Sakura and her mother when Sakura was five, when they first moved to Suna. And in the course of these 11 years, the alcohol began to settle in his life and eventually taken over. That has its advantages and disadvantages for Sakura. The advantage being he's rarely home and gives Sakura some quiet time. The disadvantage being—

_Slam!_ "SAKURA!"

—he was very angry when he drunk.

* * *

Sakura winced, pulling her uniform sleeves down to cover her bruise infested arms as she walked down the side walk to school. It was the same routine every week: Hirashi spends days on end at bars and at his company (mostly doing nothing of course), and then he'd unexpectedly return home drunk and release his anger out on Sakura.

The young Haruno had her way of dealing with it. Because god forbid if her mother found out, well, she just didn't have the heart to let that happen. Her currently hospitalized mother didn't need any amount of stress in her fragile state; just the cleaned up act of her husband and the comforting presence of her daughter.

Sakura skillfully covered up the bruises on her body as much as she could with her clothing and some makeup. The slight black eye she had was a bit trickier, but she eventually covered it up.

* * *

Aside from the state she was in, Sakura tried her best to keep up her usual, cheery façade to avoid her friends from worrying about her. As she approached the school, she saw a group of squealing girls grouped up near the entrance. Curiosity got the better of her and as she got closer, she noticed the swarm of girls giggling and questioning none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

"Hi Sasu-kun!"

"Wanna walk to class with me, Sasuke-kun!"

"Let's go out on a date tonight!"

Sakura laughed a little at the girls' desperate attempt, but more at the very frustrated expression that adorned Sasuke's features. Once the raven haired male caught sight of Sakura, he shot her a stern look that clearly said "Come here and help me damn it."

Sakura chuckled and without a word; pushed the small crowd of girls, hooked her arm with Sasuke's, and shot the girls a hard look (some getting scared, some glaring back) as she dragged her friend off.

Once the two were away from the crowd and at Sakura's locker, she looked up at Sasuke. "You know, I can't keep saving you like this."

"Hn."

Sakura laughed as she let go of his arm and opened her locker, loading and unloading her books from her bag. "You also gotta start using more words, _Sasuke-kun._" She mocked his fangirls and closed her locker, looking up at him. She mentally noted that he was a good head taller than her.

Sasuke smirked at her antics. Deciding to have fun with the situation at hand, he placed his arm above her, leaning in slightly. "Ano, it's kind of cute when you call me Sasuke-kun."

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat. _The hell does he think he's doing? Pull yourself together Sakura!_

She quickly regained her posture, laughing to change the mood and pushed his shoulder lightly. "Ha ha. Very funny Sasuke. Cmon, let's get to class." She flashed a smile and walked off in the direction of their first class.

The smirk never left Sasuke's lips as he followed behind Sakura, eventually catching up. It was strange. He never felt comfortable around someone; the only person he's even really been close to was Naruto, and they go far back since they were kids. So suddenly having the overwhelming feeling to open up to someone, not to mention in only the course of a week or so, this was definitely new to him.

_All in due time.  
_

* * *

The day progressed fairly well. The group following their usual routine: going to classes with each other and meeting up outside under the large tree for lunch. However, today was going to be a bit different.

The eight of them sat under the tree, laughing as Naruto reenacted his awkward encounter with their Health teacher, Jiraya. Everyone was just having a pure good time; even Sasuke cracked a small smile here and there.

Sakura coughed lightly from laughing so hard and smiled. "Ahh okay okay, I need to actually try and eat before lunch is over." She rolled up the sleeves of her white button down shirt slightly, enough so she wouldn't get food on it but enough that her non-makeup covered bruises wouldn't show.

Before she had the chance to take a bit of her salmon onigiri, disaster stirred.

Karin, the "leader" of Sasuke's fanclub, along with two other members, made their way to the eight.

Ino groaned. "Ughh, can't we just have _one_ lunch in peace?"

Karin walked over, smirking at Sasuke in the attempt to be seductive and stood next to him. "Well hello there, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke didn't even bother sparing her a glance as he continued to eat the boxed lunch Sakura made for him and the group.

Karin puffed her cheeks slightly as Sasuke ignored her. Her attention was then set to the pink haired girl quietly sitting next to Sasuke.

Once Sakura caught Karin's gaze, she hesitantly scooted closer to Sasuke, who in turn noticed Sakura's discomfort and placed a hand gently on her. Sakura looked up and him and smiled softly.

Karin, obviously displeased with the situation going on in front of her, quickly grabbed Sakura's water bottle and dumped it over Sakura. She watched at the liquid turned slightly peach-ish once it came in contact with Sakura's skin as she laughed. "Tell your slut that she shouldn't be wearing so much makeup."

"You shouldn't be talking." Ino was quick; she got to her feet and shoved Karin back a little, who in turn, got in Ino's face as if she wanted to fight.

Neji was the next to stand. He and the others very well knew that Karin didn't have the guts to try anything, especially with Ino's temper. However, to avoid more conflict, he placed his hand gently on the blonde's shoulder, a clear warning for her to stop.

Sasuke, pissed out of his mind, rose to his feet. Ino and Neji both took a step back as the Uchiha stepped in front of Karin; glaring hard at her, his eye flashed red ever so subtly. The red head in front of him gasped in fear and he spoke in a low, dangerous tone. "Leave. _Now._"

Karin and the other two scrambled away quickly. The eight then turned their attention to Sakura who was shaking lightly, her lead hung low causing her bangs to shielding her eyes slightly.

Sasuke bent down next to the girl, placing a hand gently on her back. She looked up at him, her wet hair swishing to the side. His eyes widen at what he saw.

He caught a glimpse of the makeup-hidden bruises on her arms. He caught a glimpse of the sickly black colour that ringed around her right eye. He caught sight of her as she quickly grabbed her stuff and ran off, ignoring the calls from her friends.

He caught glimpse of the truth.

* * *

"Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT." Sakura cursed loudly as she busted through the door of her room, dropping her bag on the floor and crumbled down with it. To her advantage, her stepfather was at work for the remainder of the week; hence the previous day's outburst.

Not even minding the fact that she was skipping the remaining classes she had, the pinkette made her way to the bathroom connected to her red-walled bedroom. Dreading the second she did so, she looked up at her reflection in the mirror. Her emerald orbs scanned over the now-present damage. The black colour around her eye had gotten slightly darker, but she knew it was just in the process of healing. Her bruises, however, lightened a light due to the medicine she applied the night before. Her pink hair was matted down slightly from the water that was dumped on her, and it was all disheveled from her previous running.

Aside from the physical appearance, what was damaged more was _her_ herself. The mental trauma began to soak in as she leaned against the pale walls of her bathroom; slowly sliding down as her hands ran through her hair. Tears threatened to spill, not from the physical pain, but from the thoughts that coursed through her mind.

What will her friends think? It was hard enough for her to try and make friends in a new school that was already in progress. Now, after her friends just witnessed what she's been desperately trying to hide since she was in Suna, she has to try and find a way to separate herself from them.

_To think, I was actually going to make friends._

Sakura laughed bitterly at the thoughts, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the wall. It was then she realized something, her eyes shooting open at the thought. Her friends barely saw her after the makeup ran…

Sasuke.

_Damn it! He's the one that saw it all! _

A displeased groan escaped her throat as she gripped her hair in her hands; now THIS was way more to deal with. Especially with how close her and Sasuke were getting, he was definitely not going to let this go easily.

It was then that the tears finally fell.

* * *

_RING!_

The students quickly filed out of the classroom, glad that the school day was finally over.

Sasuke collected his stuff, and walked out of the classroom, hands stuffed in his pockets. Clearly, the amount of schoolwork he had to do didn't faze him, nor did the group of girls that tried to make their way to him. No, that was the least of his worries.

The image of the bruise covered Sakura remained engraved in his mind; flashing every time he dared to blink or close his eyes. But what did it matter right? It was only a couple of bruises; people run into stuff every day.

No. Something was different about those bruises. If they really were the results of her bumping in a desk or dresser, Sakura wouldn't have been so desperate as to try and cover them up with makeup. Mostly, she wouldn't have given him that regretful look when he looked at her.

"Hey Sasuke-teme!"

Sasuke was shaken out of his thoughts at Naruto's unexpected arrival. He grunted, ignoring the blonde as he continued to walk out of the school.

"What's got a stick up your ass!" Naruto jumped down off the stairs, walking alongside his childhood best friend. With hands behind his head, he glanced over at Sasuke and grinned. "You were thinking about Sakura, weren't you?"

Sasuke glared at him slightly before returning his eyes to the pathway in front of him. "Hn, no." _Yes._

"Ahh cmon teme, lighten up a little! I mean, Sakura isn't as beautiful as my Hinata, but she's not that bad looking! Besides, you guys seem to be getting so close and—"

Naruto continued to ramble on and Sasuke could care less about his words. The two of them made their way to Sasuke's sleek black car as Naruto continued on his rant, completely unaware of his best friend's lack of attention.

As Sasuke reached into his side backpack pocket to retrieve his car keys, the last statement Naruto said finally caught his attention. "—but last period was so boring without Sakura there!"

"What?" Naruto looked at Sasuke with confusion. "What do you mean she wasn't there?"

Naruto shrugged, putting his hands behind his head again. "Like she wasn't there the entire period. Actually, I haven't seen her at all since she ran off during lunch."

Although he didn't show it, slight panic began to set in as Sasuke's mind began to race. _She never came back after lunch?_

* * *

Sakura sat knees to her chest on the couch, watching TV. The bright flickering light emitted from the television set was the only light that illuminated the dark living room.

After an hour or so of showering and reapplying the makeup on her eye (not so much caring about the bruises on her arms, since they were already fading and could pass as casual accidents), she contently rested on her couch. The only sound throughout the whole house being the TV comforted her; letting her relax a little from the usual chaos there was within those walls.

The sudden knock on the door startled the pinkette, her eyes tearing away from the TV to the door not too far from where she was sitting. At first, fear washed over her at the possibility that it could be her deranged stepfather, but was subsided with the—sad—thought that if it was him, he would've barged in already. However, she was still confused as to who it could be.

Slowly rising off the couch, she smoothed out the fabric of her plain white t-shirt and walked toward the door. However, she definitely didn't expect to see that person on the other side. "Sasuke?"

Said person was standing in front of her, still in his school uniform, hands stuff in his pockets. Sasuke tried to keep his usual blank expression, but the worry was shining in his onyx eyes ever so slightly. "Hn."

"What are you doing here? Wait, no. _How_ did you find out where I live?"

"Kakashi doesn't do a good job at keeping his students information private."

Sakura sighed, mentally cursing his lazy homeroom teacher and slowly stepped to the side, allowing Sasuke to go into her house.

Sasuke nodded slightly in thanks and walked in, closing the door behind him. He looked around the small, yet comfortable house. He noted the simplicity of it; the white walls with clashing dark blue furniture. However, he did notice the lack of framed pictures or other typical family décor. Everything seemed…lifeless.

"So now that I know **how** you got here, **why** are you here?"

Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts as she made her way to the living room; turning off the TV and leaning against the back of the couch, arms crossed.

"Hn."

"Sorry, I don't speak Sasuke that well."

Sasuke sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "You didn't come back after lunch."

Sakura froze in her spot. She hoped that he would've forgotten about that stupid incident between her and Karin. More importantly, she _hoped_ that her forgot about the bruises. "Oh…yeah. I guess that whole thing with Karin shook me up a little, that's all."

_Which isn't exactly a lie._

Sasuke made his way to Sakura. He stopped directly in front of her, the close proximity made Sakura a bit nervous. A blank expression remained on Sasuke's face as he reached up a hand, placing it gently on Sakura's cheek.

A blush slowly crept up as Sakura slowly looked up at Sasuke, confused by his actions. His thumb gently caressed her cheek, and before she knew it, he applied a slight amount of pressure. At first, she was really confused about what he was doing, but when realization hit her, her eyes widen.

Sasuke had smudged a bit of the makeup, revealing a small patch of black tainted skin. His brows furrowed, his emotions now clearly shone in his eyes. "What are you hiding?"

Sakura desperately scrambled to find an excuse, any kind of excuse. They were both stopped in their tracks at the sound of a car pulling up to the driveway of her house. The car door was then slammed closed, followed by the faint sound of curses.

"Shit, he can't be back already." Sakura mumbled, frantically pushing past Sasuke and peeking out the window.

Sasuke looked at her confused, his concern raising more. "Who?"

Sakura turned quickly to Sasuke. She grabbed his hand, pulling him along with her as she ran down the long hallway to her room, closing the door quickly and locking it.

Sakura looked around her room, panicking more when she heard her stepfather opening and slamming the front door violently. "SAKURA!"

Sasuke's attention went from the door to the frightened girl in front of him. "Sak—"

"You need to get out of here now." Sakura interrupted him, grabbing the Uchiha's hand once more and dragged him to the window. She quickly unlocked the window, instantly thankful that her house was only one level and Sasuke could escape.

Her actions became more frantic as she heard her stepfather loudly looking for her throughout the house, the repeated sounds of him yelling her name echoed.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the shoulder, firmly yet still gently, and looked into her eyes. "Sakura, what is going on?"

"You have to leave, now!"

"No. I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."

Sakura looked at him with pleading eyes. "Sas—"

"SAKURA!" The doorknob to her room began to shake violently as her stepfather tried to enter. The industrial knob and hinges prevented the enraged man from tearing the door off its frame right away, but she knew that wouldn't prevent him for long.

Sakura panicked and slowly guided Sasuke out the window. The fact that she actually managed to actually get the Uchiha out of her room surprised her, but she quickly shook that off.

She was about to close the window, but was stopped by Sasuke grabbed her hand. He looked into her eyes, emotions swirling violently in them. "What is going on?" He pressed each word, strictly set on staying with his friend.

"Just trust me. Please Sasuke." Her eyes practically begged him to let go of her hand.

Reluctantly, he did as he was told and slowly removed his hand. Sakura wasted no time in closing the window. She mouthed an "I'm sorry" to Sasuke and closed the curtains.

It was then that Sasuke noticed that the house was almost entirely sound proof, enabling him from hearing what was going on at the other side of the wall. The only sounds he could make out were the sounds of a door busting open, and a lot of yelling. Being unable to hear anymore due to the sound proof walls, and remembering Sakura's pleading, he slowly turned and left.

Oh, how he regretted doing so.

* * *

_**Originally posted: **16 June 2008**  
****Edited: **10 April 2012_

**Author's note**: Chapter 2, finished! :D Like I said at the beginning of the story, this has absolutely nothing to do with the original version of chapter 2. After re-reading my story, I noticed the EXTREMELY awkward flow of chapters 1 into chapter 2. So in order to bridge that gap, I wrote a _**completely new**_ version of chapter 2 so you guys can understand how it was all set up better! And to those who haven't read the original version and read this for the first time, well, you didn't need to worry about this really haha! This is just a heads up to the old readers! However, I really hope this "bridge" helped you guys understand why things happened the way they happened in the original version. I am still including what happened in the original version in the next chapter, just for the sake of keeping the story as close to how I originally wrote it as possible, but I'm still debating whether I should merge the original chapters 2 and 3 together or not. Well, I'm about to find out cause I'm starting now! Haha!

_**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**_ :D I _really_ wanna know how you guys like the new version of NTSA and if it's up-to-par with how you guys wanted to original to flow! REVIEEEEWWW!

~Cherry-chan


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. All characters rightfully belong to Kishimoto-senpai.**

**Author's note: **Whoooaaa, two chapter updates in one day? I'm on a roll! :D Trying to cram the original chapters two and three in just ONE chapter was definitely nerve wrecking, but I somehow made it work! As you guys can tell (if you read the original NTSA), there were more details added to make the story flow as smoothly as possible. And according to the reviews I'm gotten so far, I've already succeeded in improving the story. (': HOWEVER, I still need more reviews so REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I'm also happy to say that, although there were obviously many details added, I stuck to the original concepts of chapters two and three to the best of my abilities! (':

Ladies and Gentlemen, chapter 3.

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

The next day following the incident at Sakura's house seemed to go by agonizingly slow, and Sasuke was growing impatient. There were no signs of Sakura this morning in homeroom, or his first period Chemistry class.

It was now 4th period Literature class—yet another class he had with Sakura—and she was still a no-show. This was definitely starting to get to the Uchiha now.

Completely unconcerned with whatever his teacher, Yuhi Kurenai, was droning on about for the remainder of literature class, Sasuke placed his head on his hand and continued to look through his phone.

He scrolled through the countless unanswered texts he sent to Sakura from last night after he left her house, to the couple minutes there were before Literature class started. His scrolling soon came to an end as he reached the bottom of the texts, the last three he sent lit up the small screen of his phone, the dates reading:

_To: Haruno Sakura  
Date: 08 April; 07:23am_

_**Are you coming to school today?**_

_To: Haruno Sakura  
Date: 08 April; 09:14am_

_**Hello? You going to answer?**_

_To: Haruno Sakura  
Date: 08 April; 11:47am_

_**Sakura. Answer.**_

Sasuke sighed as his phone refused to scroll any further, signaling that there were no more texts to be read. He pushed the button that turned off his screen and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. Still refusing the pay attention to Kurenai's lecture, his thoughts began to drift elsewhere.

"_Just trust me. Please Sasuke."_

Sasuke closed his eyes as he remembered how frantic and scared she looked that day. As much as he didn't want to admit it, something tore at his chest at the thought of her being so pained like that. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he wished he just stayed with her that day, protecting her and calming her from whatever made her so distraught.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was forming feelings for Haruno Sakura.

_No. She's just a friend. Besides, it's too much of a hassle to deal with a girlfriend. Someone who's willing to be there all the time. Someone who's so beautiful…and breath taking…and…_

The young Uchiha clenched a fist on top of his desk. Now it was without a doubt that he was forming feelings for Sakura.

Suddenly he remembered there were more important things on hand. The fact that Sakura was covered in bruises and the psychotic enraged man that came into her house that day led to nothing else but the thought that someone was doing harming her.

Sasuke shook his head. No, that can't be possible? Why would someone wanted to hurt Sakura? Not like she did anything to deserve it.

_Or maybe she's being abused?_

Abused? The thought never crossed his mind. Maybe a fight here or there, yeah, but abused? Who would do it though?

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of the school bell. He sighed as he began to gather his stuff, walking out of the door to his locker. _At least it's lunch. Maybe I can stop by Sakura's hou—_

He stopped in his tracks as he felt the silent vibration of his phone in his pocket. Without hesitation, he pulled out the phone as the screen illuminated with a text he's been itching to receive.

_From: Haruno Sakura  
Date: 08 April; 12:52pm_

_**Meet me at my locker.**_

Sasuke quickly put his phone back in his pocket and made his way down the hall toward Sakura's locker. Upon turning the corner, he immediately caught sight of her signature pink hair standing outside of her locker, slowly opening it and looking through it for the books she needed.

A wave of relief washed over the Uchiha as he walked to her.

Sakura looked over slightly and saw Sasuke approaching her. Turning fully to face him, she gave him a bright smile as if nothing had happened the previous day. "Hey Sasuke-kun."

"Where have you been?" He bluntly asked, leaning against the lockers, arms crossed.

She returned to her locker, grabbing the books she needed for her classes after lunch. Pushing some strands of her pink hair behind her ear, she replied, "Oh just felt like sleeping in for a bit."

Her voice was casual. _Too casual._

"Sakura." He voice was stern. Noticing that she continued to rummage through her locker; he gently grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop what she was doing and turn to face him.

He noticed that she winced slightly at the contact from his hands and her shoulders. To his horror, a faint red colour started the make its way through the fabric of her white uniform shirt and the t-shirt she wore underneath.

Before Sasuke had time to react, Sakura made her way out of his grasp and tore down the hallway, desperately trying to get away from the Uchiha.

At this point, people were already in their classes or at lunch, and along with his speed, catching up to her wasn't a problem.

He caught her before she could run out of the entrance to the school building. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her to him, stumbling slightly due to the sudden force but quickly regained his balance.

The girl fell into his arms, struggling slightly with all the strength she had to get out of his arms, but it was no use. Her strength was no match compared to Sasuke, on top of the condition she was in; she reluctantly gave up and relaxed in his arms.

Sasuke took this opportunity to relax his grip on her and just hold the fragile girl in his arms. Her head was resting on his chest, eyes closed tightly. Sasuke looked down at his arms that were around the girl; tiny specks of blood made their way off her shirt and onto his arms. "Sakura, what happened?"

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him, her voice soft. "You…you don't want to know."

"Like hell I don't."

Sakura flinched slightly at his harsh tone, closing her eyes and burying her face back on the soft material of his uniform shirt.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing her back as gently as possible to not irritate the wounds. "Who did this to you?"

"My—"

"Sakura?"

Both of the teens looked up at the voice that interrupted her confessed. A guy, probably two or three years older than themselves, stood at the entrance of the school. He was dressed in washed out grey jeans and a dark blue button down shirt. His bright red eyes meshed perfectly with his short, spikey brown hair. Next to him was a calm, yet seemingly happy, white dog with brown spots, wagging his tail happily.

"Kiba!" Sakura quickly got out from Sasuke's arms and ran toward the unknown man, hugging him tightly.

Confusion—and slight hurt?—was clearly written on Sasuke's face as he watched the two hugged each other. He quickly regained his posture, but still watched the two with interest.

As Sakura pulled away, the man noticed her back, which was certainly more tainted with the red liquid. Seeing that the blood was fresh and there was no one else in the hallway except for the young Uchiha, he glared and instantly made his way over to the Uchiha.

"What the fuck did you do to her?"

"Kiba, stop!"

Sasuke swiftly caught the punch that was directed toward him, twisting his attacker's arm. The young Uchiha glared daggers at the man, who didn't waste a second in trying to throw another punch. Sasuke blocked that punch again, reflexively grabbing the collar of the guy's shirt and slammed him into the lockers.

He responded by grabbing the collar of Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke raised his fist back about the knock the living day lights out of the mystery man when a voice boomed,

"That is ENOUGH."

The three looked in the direction that the voice came from and saw none other than the Konoha High School principal, Tsunade.

The tall blonde women crossed her arms, her bright hazel eyes glaring at the two fighting boys. "My office. NOW."

* * *

As the three, including the white dog, settled in Tsunade's office—with Sakura between the two fighting boys, of course—the principal closed the door; walking to the other side of her desk and slammed her hands down, leaning over the desk, eyes solely focused on the two that were in trouble.

"What the HELL did you two think you were doing?"

Sakura winced at her principal's tone and language; it was without a doubt that Tsunade was notorious for her temper, especially when she was drunk.

"Hn."

"My apologies, ma'am."

Ignoring the first response that came from the Uchiha, Tsunade's attention adverted to the brown haired male sitting in front of her. She crossed her arms. "I don't recall you being a student here."

Before he got a chance to respond, Sakura finally spoke up. "This is Inuzuka Kiba. He's a close family friend of mine from Suna."

"And what is _he_ doing _here_?"

_Hn. That's exactly what I'm wondering._ Sasuke thought.

Sakura pulled Sasuke's black blazer, in which he gave her to cover up her blood stained shirt, tighter around her as she spoke quietly. "Well, that's kind of what we're wondering too."

The three pairs of eyes were casted toward Kiba as he explained, looking at Sakura. "Her mother asked me if I could come and get her from school so she could come to the hospital. But instead I found her with that guy (which earned a glare from Sasuke) and she was covered in blood."

"Blood?" Tsunade questioned, her eyes going from Kiba to Sakura. "What blood?"

Sakura instinctively pulled the blazer around her tighter, her emerald orbs casting downward.

"Sakura," Tsunade began; her tone serious. "Remove the jacket."

Reluctantly, she slowly removed Sasuke's jacket from her body, showing the now dried blood stains on her back. Knowing that all attention was focused on her back, Sakura felt as if she just wanted to disappear altogether.

"Sakura." Sasuke's deep voice caught her attention as she looked up at him. "What happened?" He repeated the same question he's been asking her, and himself, since the incident yesterday.

Sakura looked at all the people in the room, sighing as closed her eyes. _What do I do? What do I do?_

What frustrated her was that she was being cornered to reveal that secrets she's been trying her hardest to hide for years.

She was startled slightly as she felt a hand rest on top of hers. She opened her eyes to see that Sasuke acted VERY uncharacter-like and took her hand in his; ultimately reassuring her that it was okay.

She looked up at the boy she had grown close to these past couple weeks, then at her best friend who she's known practically her whole life and sighed.

"Fine…here's the truth."

It was then that it all came spilling out. All the years of her hidden torment came tumbling out in a matter of minutes.

"Maybe a year or so after we moved to the Sand, my mother met my stepfather. At the time, his business was booming; he was at the top of his game really. My mother 'fell in love with him' and they got married. I knew she was trying to fill the void that my father left, but even that couldn't satisfy her. Over the years, my stepfather's business began to crumble and his temper began to get out of control. He resorted to alcohol, eventually lashing out on my mother."

Sakura stopped; it obviously pained her to recall the memories. With a comforting gaze from the Uchiha next to her, she relaxed and continued.

"I didn't really know what was going on. Most of the time, I would either be in school or at the Inuzuka's house. But one day…I came home to my mother on the ground bleeding, and my stepfather nowhere to be found. I ran over to her and realized that she was…she was beat with every inch of her life."

Tears were no cascading down Sakura's face as she tried to hold herself together, but none of the three in the room bought her tough façade. "She had a heart condition…but never bothered to tell any of us. And that…that caused everything to go downhill."

Sakura furiously wiped her tears away, coughing slightly as she tried to hold the sobs down.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Tsunade asked.

"Because," Sakura began; shaking lightly as rage began to overcome the sadness. "That bastard has money. He threated that if I ever breathed a word of what happened, he wouldn't hesitate to stop paying the medical costs."

"That's why you guys moved back to Konoha." It was Kiba's turn to speak up; his voice laced with anger, fists tightening.

Sakura nodded. "Things would've gotten suspicious if we stayed in Suna."

Kiba slammed his fist down on the desk, causing the pinkette to jump slightly. He looked away, clearly pissed at what he just found out. "And to think my family was friends with that sick bastard. We should've seen what was happening! Shinako showed signs of being hurt."

"My mother never wanted anyone to find out."

"But we still could've done something, damn it!" Kiba raised his tone, causing Sakura to lean closer to Sasuke, a bit frightened.

_Sasuke._

She forgot that he was even there. More importantly, she forgot that he almost witnessed her stepfather's rage yesterday. She looked up at him, gasping as she saw his eyes tainted blood red.

"S-Sasuke-kun…"

"Why did you make me leave yesterday, Sakura?" His tone was dangerous; obviously angry, not at her, but at the situation itself.

"I didn't—"

"I could've helped you!"

"That enough." Tsunade's voice cut through the rage emitted from both boys. All attention was directed toward the blonde hair woman now. "BOTH of you could've done something. _Done_, past tense. No one knew what Sakura was going through, but now you both do. I think you both should take the liberty is helping her now, rather than harping on the past."

Although her words were harsh, she was right. There wasn't a point in trying to deal with what had happened; it was more important to try and prevent it from ever happening again.

"She right." Kiba agreed.

"Hn."

"It's not like I can just leave though." Now THIS caught everyone's attention.

"Sakura, what the hell are you saying? It's not like you can stay with that creep!" Kiba exclaimed, Akamaru barking at the raise in his master's tone.

"My mother's life depends on that money! There's absolutely no way I could ever afford those medical bills, and—"

"I'll pay them." Sasuke cut in, is voice blunt.

Sakura's eyes widen. "Sasuke-kun, no. That's way too much money to even ask for you to do that."

Sasuke smirked. "Money isn't a problem. After all, I am the son of the founders of Sharingan Corp."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sharingan Corp.? The company that her father used to be close to the family of? No, there was no possible way. "Wha—"

"Then it's settled." Tsunade cut in before Sakura could even ask. "There's no excuse for you not to leave Sakura. There's no reason for you to live that way, period." The principal rose from her seat, looking at the three in front of her. "Sakura, you're dismissed from school for the rest of the day. As for Inuzuka-san," her eyes casted toward Kiba, "I'm sure he would have no problem getting Sakura situated somewhere other than her home."

Kiba nodded, standing up along with Sasuke and Sakura.

Sakura, although wanting to protest the unexpected help she was getting, reluctantly sighed and bowed to her principal. "Thank you so much, Tsunade-sama. This means everything to me."

Finally, in what seemed like forever in the time the four spent in her office, the blonde woman cracked a smile. "You're welcome, Sakura."

* * *

"Still pisses me off how you never bothered to tell me, Sakura." Kiba mumbled; the three walking out of the school into the parking lot.

Thankfully Sakura's pain subsided a bit, allowing Sakura to relax a little. She sighed as she walked with Sasuke, holding his hand tighter. She found comfort around the Uchiha, something she hadn't felt in a definite long time.

As they reached Kiba's car, Sakura gave him a look asking for him to give her and Sasuke a moment. Kiba nodded, opening the back seat door allowing Akamaru to jump in, and got into the driver seat himself.

Sakura turned to Sasuke, looking up at him. Emerald clashed with onyx. "Sasuke-kun."

"I'm sorry."

A surprised expression adorned her features. "Sorry? For what."

The Uchiha ran his free hand through his hair, looking away from the girl in front of him. "I'm sorry I didn't stay and help. I shouldn't have listened to you and left…"

Sakura smiled softly and leaned up on her tip toes, placing a small kiss on his cheek. "But you cared. That's more than enough."

A very faint blush crept up onto Sasuke's cheek as he looked back at Sakura. _That smile… how can she still be so happy? _A slight smile tugged at the corner of Sasuke's mouth; the optimism this girl held was certainly something. "Hn."

Sakura handed Sasuke back his blazer, in which he immediately shook his head. "Keep it."

She smiled once more. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." As she turned to open the passenger door of the car, she stopped and looked back at him once more. "Really, thank you." With that, she got into the car and left with Kiba in the direction of where he was staying.

Sasuke smirked. _She's definitely different, I'll give her that._

* * *

The end of school rolled around. Sasuke made his way out of the school; ignoring the ever-so-annoying group of fangirls that insisted on being everywhere. He got into her car, fully intent on heading to the address Sakura had texted him only moments ago.

_**Face it, Uchiha. She's got you wrapped around her finger.**_ His inner taunted.

_Hn._

Sasuke wasn't going to deny it; his feelings toward his pink haired friend were definitely progressing. But with all that was going on, on top of his pride that refused to let him show it, feelings were the least of his concern right now. Doesn't mean that stops them from crossing his mind—frequently.

After 15 minutes, Sasuke arrived at the simple hotel Kiba was staying at while he was in Konoha. He pulled up to the parking lot and walked into the main lobby. The building was quite normal sized for a hotel, maybe two floors at the most. He looked back at his phone for the room number Sakura was in, and proceeded to walk down the large hall.

Once he reached the room, he knocked on the door.

"I got it!" He heard a female voice call from behind the oak door.

The door opened, revealing a short, purple haired woman. She looked confused at first, but smiled cordially, adjusting the black framed glasses on her face. "Hello there. And who might you be."

"Uchiha Sasuke." He stated simply, hands in his pockets.

The girl's eyes brightened. "Ahh, Uchiha-san. Sakura said you were going to stop by. Come in."

Sasuke nodded in thanks and walked into the house. "I'm Ondo Yuki, Kiba's girlfriend." The girl introduce, closing the door behind Sasuke. "Sakura! Uchiha-san's here!"

Sasuke heard the sounds of rushing footsteps coming down the stairs, the pinkette peeking around the corner. "Sasuke-kun!" she smiled as she walked over to Sasuke, enveloping him in a hug.

Sasuke smirked. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better. Yuki cleaned me up and I'm all brand new!"

Sasuke's smirk remained on his face; silently enjoying her cheeriness, definitely happy in seeing her like this compared to yesterday. They walked over to the living room, sitting down on the couch.

Sakura happily talked as if nothing was ever wrong, which made the Uchiha happy. He smirked at her giddiness and she curled on the couch next to him.

"Hey Sasuke-kun?" Sakura suddenly asked, catching his attention.

"Hn."

"Why did you come to my house yesterday?"

Sasuke knew the question was going to come sooner or later. "I was worried." He simply stated.

"Ha, why were you worried about me?" she quietly asked, gazing down at the couch. It was no lie that Sakura was forming her own feelings for the Uchiha. Grant it, she had no idea that he in fact returned those feelings, so he confessing that he was worried for her did take her by surprise. "I mean, Naruto and the others were worried about me too, but they didn't try to track me down."

"You sound as if you didn't want me to go after you." He smirked. Seeing through Sakura wasn't that hard of a task for him; her feelings for him were clear. However, he was still trying to grasp his own together before he would say anything about them.

"No! That's not it! It's just…"

"Ahem."

They both looked at Kiba, who was leaning against the door frame, a slightly large, white envelope in his hand. He walked over to the two, Yuki following behind him as he handed Sakura the letter.

"When I told your mother that Yuki and I were coming to visit you guys, she told me to look through one of the drawers in my family's house." He cocked an eyebrow, pointing toward the letter in Sakura's hand. "She said she had that hidden before you guys came here to Konoha, knowing that Hirashi would find it when he unpacked your stuff."

"Do you what it's about?" Sakura question, turning over the envelope and careful opened it.

Kiba shook his head. "Not a clue."

Sakura opened the envelope, pulling out a letter with professional script written on it. Her eyes scanned over the letter's contents, almost dropping it in the process of reading. Her emerald orbs widen, slowly looking up at Sasuke in pure shock.

Confused, Sasuke slowly took the letter from her hands. Reading over the contents himself, his own eyes slightly widened. "We're…what…"

* * *

_**Originally posted: **16 June 2008**  
****Edited: **11 April 2012_

**Author's note:** Chapter 3, finished! :D Ahh, gotta love my cliffhanger endings, ne? *grins evilly* And I know there's a lack of SasuSaku-ness in the past few chapters, but I PROMISE that the next chapter is gonna be FILLED with SasuSaku looovvveee. (: Ehh, as happy as I am that I improved the flow of chapters from the original, I don't know if I like the layout of this chapter. /: I feel like I crammed too much detail into this chapter. But then again, I _**was** _trying to mash the original chapters 2 and 3 together as best as I could due to the fact I had to write that whole new chapter. But overall, I think this was definitely better, don't you think?

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!** Cmon guys, 5 reviews is no where _**near** _enough feedback on how the story's running. Luckily for you guys, since I did update two chapters in one day, and it's about 12:45am, I'll work on chapter 4 tomorrow. That gives you guys plenty of time to REVIEW *hint hint, nudge nudge*

~Cherry-chan


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. All characters rightfully belong to Kishimoto-senpai.**

**Author's note: **Ahh you guys' reviews just absolutely make my day. :'D Especially some of your opinions on what Sasuke and Sakura were; I mean INCEST? As much as I find that attractive in some situations (not gonna lie hehe), that just wasn't even a thought in my mind. Well...NO. NO. STOP MAKING ME HAVE THE THOUGHTS. :| Haha so here it is! Chapter 4! :D I know I told some of you I was going to update yesterday, but things got a little...hectic, to say the least. So I worked aaaalll day to get this posted for you guys! As I promised last chapter, there's going to be a lot more SasuSaku then there has been. SO ENJOY THE SASUSAKU-NESS! :D

Ladies and Gentlemen, chapter 4.

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

Blurs. Everything became a blur to Sakura.

She hardly remembered tearing out of the hotel. All she registered now was she was running—not exactly knowing where she was going, but she was running.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled, immediately darting off the couch and out of the hotel room.

The letter slowly fluttered to the floor, the script now perfectly visible to the remaining two people in the room.

_**My Dearest Sakura,**_

_**If you're reading this…then I would have already passed. I know that isn't the best way to start out a letter but…I've been sitting here staring at this blank paper for hours, and that's all that seems to come into my head. I never thought I would be placed in the situation where I would have to write this at all, but with the circumstances I'm placed in, this only seems necessary. Three years ago when you were 2, I met the lovely owners of Sharingan Corporation, the Uchiha family. And, for a lack of better words, our families instantly connected. In order to ensure that our families will forever be connected, we arranged you to be married to their youngest son, Uchiha Sasuke, when you're 21. I know this is sudden. And I know that if you don't have feelings toward this boy, let alone not know who he is, you'll never forgive us for this. I know I can never control you, and I've never had the heart to do so. But I hope you find it in your heart to understand my last wish. I love you with all my heart, my beautiful daughter. Until we meet again.**_

_**Love Always,  
Your Father.**_

* * *

Blurred images of trees zoomed past Sakura as she ran. She knew she made her way to the park as the faint scent of cherry blossoms filled her nose.

"SAKURA!"

She heard Sasuke's distinct voice call for me, but I refused to stop running. _How could he do this to me? Without even ASKING me? I never even met the Uchihas, let alone Sasuke till about a month ago. And he expects me to marry him? How—_

"Sakura!"

Her thoughts, and movements, were interrupted as Sasuke caught up to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him. It was déjà vu as the two stumbled from the sudden move; Sasuke quickly regaining his posture with Sakura in his arms.

"Let me go, Sasuke!" Sakura protested through her tears, struggling to get out of his grasp.

But her actions were to no avail. "Sakura, stop."

Her tears kept pouring down, her struggling becoming more desperate. "No! Just let me go!"

"Why! So you can keep running away!"

This definitely caught Sakura's attention. Her struggling came to an abrupt stop; she looked up at the Uchiha with widen eyes.

Sasuke finally released his old on her, fully knowing she wouldn't take off running anymore. "Are you just going to keep running when things don't happen in your favor?"

The image of Karin's smug look as she first approached the group that day during lunch flashed in Sakura's eyes. He was right. She could've just stood her ground the second Karin started throwing her insults; instead she just sat there. And the position she's in now doesn't help any better.

Sasuke's tone unusually changed; becoming softer as he stood in front of her. "You can't keep running."

"But aren't you scared too?"

Sasuke stood there, face to face with Sakura as she looked up at him. He honestly hadn't thought about how he felt about this whole situation. He was just solely concerned about how _she_ felt, which ultimately says something within itself.

"Hn."

"Sasuke," Sakura began, looking down at her hands; the park's cherry blossoms swirling around them. "This is all just a mess. I mean, we're only 16 and I just met you. How are we supposed to get married when I don't even know if you like me? It's just—"

"I do."

"—we have a whole…what?" Her eyes widen, quickly looking back up at him. Emerald and onyx clashed once more; a serious intent glistened in Sasuke's eyes. "What do you mean…?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair; he was never good at this whole emotion thing. "Hn. I do like you…"

Not only did he just admit it to Sakura, he finally admitted it to himself.

Sakura stepped closer to him, closing the gap between them a little more till it was a few mere inches. She looked up directly into his eyes, Sasuke returning the gesture. Her tear stained eyes had regained their natural glow; the smile that she refused to show shone clear in those emerald orbs.

"Stop doing that."

Sakura looked at him confused. "Stop doing what?"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, struggling to find the words. He gritted his teeth slightly, obviously not good with these kind of things. "Stop…making me want to kiss you."

"Wh…what…?" Her eyes widen once more as he leaned in, eyes closed, and pressed his lips against hers.

And, as in the clichés, everything seemed to stop.

Slowly, Sakura's own eyes fluttered shut as she returned the kiss. There was nothing rough and heated about it. Just a simple, sweet, innocent kiss, which frankly, held more emotion than either of the two could show.

Sasuke was the first to pull back, not before leaning up and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead; which Sakura returned with a soft smile, eyes still closed.

"We can get through this." His voice cut through the silence; Sakura nodding and leaning forward, resting her head on his chest.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her frame once more as the two stood there in perfectly silence; the only sound was the wind blowing lightly and the cherry blossoms dancing around them.

It didn't matter to her how uncharacter-like Sasuke was acting, or how he unexpectedly blurted out his feelings to her. She knew how she felt, and know that she knew how he felt, everything seemed to fit together perfectly. Suddenly, the whole marriage thing didn't seem so nerve wrecking to her anymore.

_We can get through this.  
_

* * *

Sakura sat in her own bedroom; hand cupped over her mouth, elbow on her knee as she sat there in thought.

A week had gone by since she found out about the engagement. In the course of that week, everyone fulfilled their promises they had made to her. With Sakura's permission, Tsunade reported to the authorities about her stepfather's actions, which ultimately landed him in prison. Sasuke had conversed with the doctors that he would be paying Sakura's mother's medical expenses.

It relieved Sakura that she could finally live in peace now. Not having to worry about that psychotic man returning and dragging her back to hell, or the fact that she couldn't leave him in order to preserve her mother's life. It definitely lifted a huge weight off of Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura sighed, running a hand through her shoulder length pink hair and retied it back into a loose ponytail. She got up off her bed and picked up the box sitting next to her.

After the incident in the park, Sasuke insisted that she move in with him. Seeing as she couldn't live with Kiba, due to the fact that him and Yuki are only visiting in Konoha, her only other option was staying alone in her old home. The walls held more secrets and memories than Sakura could handle, so she opted out of staying and accepted Sasuke's offer.

As she got to the doorway, she turned around and faced her now empty room. Her eyes softened; even thought her room, let alone the whole house, carried way to man painful memories, for some reason she found herself having trouble saying goodbye.

She heard a car pull up to her driveway; the sounds of the door closing and the car locking filled her ears—Sasuke was here. She sighed; one arm around the box as she placed a gentle hand on the doorknob. With one last look, she whispered "goodbye" and closed the door.

* * *

A knock was heard on the door as Sakura walked down the hallway to the living room. She placed the box in her arms down with the rest of the boxes and walked to the door.

She smiled softly at the sight of the Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke-kun."

He smirked, closing the door behind him and walked in. "Hey." He gave her a kiss on the lips and looked around at the emptied room; the only the filling it were the simple brown boxes and cleaned off furniture. "Is this all?"

Sakura nodded, wrapping her arms around her own body slightly.

She watched as Sasuke nodded, putting his keys in his pocket and walked over to the boxes, getting ready to load them into his car.

A thought crossed her mind as she asked, "Sasuke-kun, are you sure your parents are okay with this?"

Sasuke froze in his place, his brows furrowing at the unpleasant memory crossed his mind.

Confused that she didn't get a response, she walked over to Sasuke, who stood up with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Sas—"

"They're dead." He simply stated, picking up one of the boxes.

Sakura looked at him in shock as she watched him picked up the box and make his way to the door. "What happened?" She asked quietly as if afraid of the answer she was going to get.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he walked past her to the door. Sakura ran to the door, stepping in front of him blocking him from leaving. Frustrated, he put the box down and looked at her.

"What happened?" She repeated her previous question.

Sasuke sighed and sat down on top of the box he just put down, resting his elbows on his knees. Sakura walked over to him and sat down on the ground, looking up at him.

"I was about seven." He solemnly started; closing his eyes, recalling the memory. "It was a very busy day for the company…"

* * *

_A 7 year old Sasuke sat on a chair against the wall of a large office. The walls were plain white, adorned with a large red and white fan painted on the back wall—the Uchiha symbol. _

_Sasuke groaned in frustration and tossed the homework he was working on onto the seat next to him. He ran a hand through his—shorter—raven hair._

_His head shot up at the sound of giggling. He saw his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, walk over to him and crouch down in front of him. "What's wrong, Sasu-chan?"_

_A faint blush colored his cheeks as he "hmph"ed; he hated when his mother called him that. "I don't feel like doing my homework."_

_Mikoto chuckled a little once more and was about to offer him help on his homework, when the door opened._

_Sasuke's father, Uchiha Fugaku, had walked in carrying some paperwork and was on the phone. _

_It was definitely a busy day for Sharingan Corp. They were about to make an alliance with another company, Nine Tails Federation. Sharingan Corp. had been in business ever since Sasuke was born, and since then they have had a very good relationship with the owners of Nine Tails, the Uzumaki family. And finally after all those years, they were going to make a business alliance._

"_Yes, that sounds good…Yes…Okay then, it's settled…Arigatou Minato…Bye." Fugaku hung up the phone, a slight smile adorned his mature face. "It's official. There's going to be a meeting next week to fill out the paper work and everything will be complete."_

"_That's wonderful, dear!" Mikoto chimed, flashing her husband a bright smile._

_The sound of Fugaku phone ringing filled their ears and he looked down at the Caller ID. "Itachi?"_

_Fugaku answered his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi's, phone call; slowly his serene look became frustrated. "Itachi, I can't right now…Can't you find anyone else?" Fugaku paused and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Fine. I'll be there soon." With that, he hung up and sighed once more._

"_What is it, dad?" Sasuke asked._

"_Your brother needs to be picked up and I have to do it." Fugaku answered; walking over to his desk, putting the paperwork down, and picking up his black trench coat with the Uchiha symbol on the back._

"_Can't you send one of the chauffeurs to pick him up?" Mikoto asked; standing up and walking over to her husband, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder._

_Fugaku shook his head. "They're either already with accompanying someone else or have gone home for the night." He sighed, slipping on his trench coat. "It's no problem, I'll just go pick him up real quick."_

"_I'll go with you." Mikoto said, grabbing her own jacket from the coat hanger. "I need to stop by the store anyways." She slipped on her jacket and turned to Sasuke, who resumed trying to finish his homework. "Sasu-chan?"_

_Sasuke looked up from his homework at his mother. _

"_Do you mind waiting here a bit? We need to go pick up Itachi."_

"_Hn." Sasuke agreed, returning to his homework._

_Fugaku nodded; walking by his son, ruffling his hair a little before walking out the door._

_Mikoto smiled warmly and leaned down, kissing Sasuke on the top of his head before leaving. "We love you, Sasu-chan. We'll see you tonight."_

_**We love you.**_

* * *

__"They were in a car crash that night…Police say they died on scene." Sasuke concluded; his fists clenched tight on his lap, teeth gritted slightly. "And it was all that damn Itachi's fault."

It was without a doubt that Sasuke blamed his older brother for the death of his parents. He knew they would still be alive if Itachi didn't beg them to come pick him up.

Tears brimmed Sakura's eyes, threatening to fall while Sasuke told the story. Those same tears finally fell when Sasuke's eyes finally opened and connected with hers; all she could see was the hurt coaxing them. Getting the better of herself, she got up on her knees to math Sasuke's sitting height and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

Sasuke was taken aback by Sakura's sudden gesture but returned the hug anyways. He inhaled her intoxicating scent of strawberries, noting it was the perfect fragrance for her. His thoughts were interrupted by her words once more; this time, he was truly taken aback.

"I'm here now, Sasuke-kun. And I'm not leaving."

Sasuke hugged her tighter; burying his head into her shoulder, eyes closed tightly. A single tear fell and slid down his cheek, but he never spoke a word of it.

* * *

"That's the last of it." Sasuke said as he placed the last box down in his living room.

The two of them had just finished unloading all of Sakura's belongings into his house. It was normal sized, but still cozy enough for the two of them. When Sasuke started high school, he was given to opportunity to move into his own small house in the Uchiha district. He didn't waste a second taking up the offer; anything to get away from Itachi, whom he couldn't bear to be next to.

Sakura sighed, slightly exhausted from all the loading and unloading and slumped down onto the couch. Sasuke sat down next to her, causing her to move until she was leaning against him.

Sasuke could tell something was on her mind. "Sakura?"

"Hmm?" she answered, tilting her head back looking up at him.

"What's wrong?"

Sakura sighed, closing her eyes and cuddling against Sasuke's chest more. As his arms wound themselves around her slender frame, she replied, "I guess I was just thinking about all that's happened recently. It's just…there's a lot going on, and I'm scared to be alone with all of this."

"You're not going to be alone."

Sakura opened her eyes and looked back up at Sasuke, only to be greeted by his own gaze looking down at her. The look in his eyes told her that he meant his words. A soft smile graced her lips as she whispered, "Promise?"

A small smile tugged at Sasuke's lips—not a smirk, but a genuine smile. "Hn. Promise."

Sakura's smile widened as she leaned up, kissing him gently. He returned the kiss, his lips moving with hers perfectly.

Sakura slowly sat up, still kissing him, her arms around his neck. She pulled back and smiled before giving him another peck on the lips. "Cmon Sasuke-kun. Let's go to bed."

Sasuke smirked and got up with her. With his arm still around Sakura, he led her up the stairs to his bedroom.

Sakura looked around the room. She noted the simplicity, yet comfort, of his bedroom. The walls were a plain white; the bed clashed with the walls with its blood red comforter and pillows. There was a light wooden dresser across from the bed, next to the door that led to the connected bathroom, and there were matching night stands on either side of the bed.

Sasuke walked into his room; pulling his shirt over his head in the process, walked over to his nightstand and took some stuff out of his pockets.

A noticeable blush crept up on Sakura's cheeks. It wasn't until then that she noticed how muscular Sasuke was. His abs were defined, his chest and shoulders toned and brood; he wasn't grossly ripped, ultimately, he was perfect. Sakura bite her lower lip lightly and looked away quickly, the blush still remained on her cheeks.

Sasuke, noticing Sakura blushing, smirked. Deciding to have fun with the situation at hand, he walked over to Sakura and wrapped his arms around her once more.

Sakura jumped at the sudden action and looked up at Sasuke, her blush getting deeper.

The young Uchiha smirked, leaning down and whispering huskily into her ear, "What's wrong, Sakura-_chan_? You're blushing."

_Ohh, he's definitely enjoying this._

Sasuke's hand trailed up her back, lifting her tank top slightly. He leaned his head forward, kissing her neck softly.

Sakura blushed crazily at this, biting her lower lip a little more; she knew Sasuke's game. After a moment, she regained her composure and giggled, pushing him back slightly. He looked at her with slight confusion as she giggled, leaning up on her tip toes and kissed him lightly.

"I'm going to bed." She whispered, trying to smirk but her blush didn't help it.

"You're no fun, Sakura." Sasuke pouted slightly, watching her walk to the bed.

She giggled, looking over at him. "You'll have plenty of time for all of this later. But right now, bed. We have school tomorrow."

Sasuke smirked once more at the thought.

After changing into her pajamas, Sakura walked out of the bathroom, letting her hair down out of the pony tail. "So, where's the guest bedroom?"

Sasuke was already in bed at the point, his arms behind his head. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Guest bedroom?"

"Umm…yes? You know, where I'll be sleeping?"

Sasuke smirked; he shook his head and sat up a little. "Hn. You're sleeping here."

The Haruno blushed lightly. "O-okay." She walked over to the bed and got under the covers.

Sasuke reached over and turned off the light. He laid down in bed, wrapping his arms around Sakura.

Sakura smiled; closing her eyes as she rested her head on Sasuke's chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke genuinely smiled at the new found warmest. His own eyes began to flutter shut, both of their cares lifted off them as they drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Hmm…this simply won't do." A female voice spoke.

The person sat on top of her bed, her attention solely focused on the picture she had just received via text. The picture was of a poorly taken candid photo of Sasuke and Sakura hugging in the park under the cherry blossom tree.

Hearing slight noise on her phone, she slowly raised the device back to her ear, gaining the attention of the person on the other line.

"So," the voice began. "What do you plan on doing, Karin?"

The red head grinned evilly as she laid back on her bed, gazing up at the ceiling as the many thoughts filled her head. "It's quite simple. We're going to do some damage."

* * *

_**Originally**__**posted**__: 16 June 2008_

_**Edited**__: 14 April 2012_

**Author's note**: Chapter 4, finished! :D This chapter was definitely the most difficult to write so far; there was just so many details I had to rewrite, and even more that I had to throw in, so the wording was difficult to find. /: So overall, I hope this chapter was written well! However, this chapter was definitely the most fun to rewrite, because of all the cute SasuSaku-ness that was thrown in everywhere, especially the little smut thrown in the end hehe. c: Ohh, and by the way, I hope this answers all my reviewers thoughts of "I think they're engaged". Haha I couldn't tell if you guys read the original version or were just guessing, so keeping quiet about it was hard for me haha. All in all, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**! :D Really guys, I'm not getting the amount of reviews I want, or need none the less. Your feedback is VERY important, especially for this story considering it's a rewrite and I'm constantly worrying if it's improved or not. So please, review! Thank you all again! (':

~Cherry-chan


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys! :D

*gets all different kinds of shit thrown at me*

WAIT WAIT! I know I haven't updated NTSA in a while, and I wanted to let you guys know something beforethe days drag on. I am **NOT** discontinuing NTSA. **NOT**. As some of you may know, I was rewriting the chapters of NTSA during my Spring Break, which was roughly 2 weeks. Last week, classes had resumed for me and because of all that was going on in my personal life, plus me trying/wanting to rewrite NTSA, I became VERY backtracked on my school work. So last week I spent trying to catch up on homework, projects, tests, etc. Although I am caught up now, it's nearing the end of my school year. With the end coming close, all my teachers are going to try and crame in EVERYTHING before finals week. By everything I mean: tests, quizzes, projects, shit ton of homework, class work. I barely have time to breathe! D;

SO, with all that said, I may not be updating NTSA as frequently until my summer vacation rolls around. I KNOW I KNOW, that disappoints a lot of you guys and I am terribly sorry, from the bottom of my heart. But as you guys already know, I am NOT a good multitasker. :| So to prevent me from breaking more promises to you guys, I'm letting you all know right now what's been happening and what's going to happen.

But like I said, I am NOT going to discontinue NTSA. I'm highly dedicated to rewrite my old, horrible fanfictions from all those years back and I don't intend on giving up yet!

Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart! All you guys' reviews have made, and continue to make, my day every time I read them! But it would also be good to hear some new voices. *HINT HINT* Meaning, I want more revieewwwsss! c: haha

Thanks again guys! I love you all dearly! (':

Ja ne!

~Cherry-chan


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